Tag Archives: acetate

The one thing I have been pushing since well before this blog was created, was for a company to start using acetate autographs once again. Upper Deck did it in their ICE hockey products and I knew it had to be brought over to other sports. It’s something I love to collect and I actually have a nice little acetate card collection, with a few autographs too.

Well Panini has listened to me. Well, I’d like to think they listened to me. I know a lot of collectors out there feel the same way I do about products and they have brought back what I love. These awesome cards can be found in 2012 Panini Elite football. Check out this Doug Martin:

On card, on acetate, whatever you want to call it, but it’s beautiful. Not only is the design great for an acetate autographed card, Panini has also taken the cues from other companies and collectors and has started to add a little bit of color in the ink. With different color inks meaning different rarity levels, it adds a great element for set collectors, player collectors, and even additional value.

So you will love the acetate autographs in this product. Well at least this set, I noticed some sticker autographs on the Hard Hats acetate autograph set that look at bit off, but these are gorgeous. You will love them.

This card is from the first set that I ever opened and found an acetate card. I had gone to the local hobby store right between my friend Eric’s house and mine and we would go buy baseball and football cards. I had saved some lunch money over a couple days just to have enough to get some packs of cards and I opened a pack of cards with these cards in it. While I did not pull this card, I recently grabbed this card from CheckOutMyCards.

As you can see, these cards are a really cool looking acetate set. When you have the cards in your hand, the photo actually is raised off of the card which gives it more of a 3-dimensional look in person. I also really like the shadow around the last name of the player and the logo inside the logo on the left. Really a cool looking set.

And what a better player to have from this set if you’re a Red Sox fan. Nomar was hitting like crazy these years so it’s a great addition.

In case you are new to the blog, I am a huge fan of cards made with acetate or whatever they are made of that makes them see-through. I have always loved see-through cards and I love to collect cards of my favorite teams and players made this way.

My next installment is this 2007-08 Upper Deck Ice Cam Ward Glacial Graphs autographed card. You can see where the card is autographed, you can see through the card to the white thing on the other side, although I don’t remember where I took that photo.

I love the design of this card because while the top and bottom isn’t see through, the middle part which makes it “glacial” because you can see through it like ice, is autographed. I also like how Upper Deck has the photo of the player over the see-through spot which gives it some extra depth when looking at the card in person, almost like a shadow. If you turn the card over, you see the reverse image of the player while seeing the autograph from the other side.

No one really does the see-through cards anymore, but Upper Deck usually has an insert or two which goes back to this sort of design. I know Panini Contenders had one see-through subset this year, but I think it should have been designed more like this. And actually, I just came up with a great design concept for that specific insert set including the acetate component. If you want to know, you know where to find me!

I have a couple of see-through cards in my CheckOutMyCards account from back in the early 2000s, so when I get them sent out to me I will make sure I show you some more of my new favorites. Until then, if you have any acetate cards of the players or teams I collect, let me know! I’ll gladly take them off your hands.

With 2010-11 Upper Deck The Cup less than a week away now, we look forward to the next season of hockey products. One of the favorites for finding new rookies is 2011-12 Upper Deck Black Diamond hockey. I know everyone loves rookies and Upper Deck really is giving 2011-12 Black Diamond collectors some treats in the rookie department this time around.

The newest case hit from Upper Deck in this product is Lustrous Rookies. If anyone remembers the “lustrous” sets from UD Black, this pays great homage to one of the best sets I’ve seen. I own some Lustrous Materials from UD Black and just love the design and the clear view through the card. The fact Upper Deck is bringing back a subset of near the same design is exciting to me.

Continuing with rookies, you can find 1 Ice Premieres rookie per box and as usual you can find 3 Triple Diamond rookies and 1 Quad Diamond rookie per box. You may also find a parallel of these as well in Ruby, Gold, or Platinum. As far as veterans go, you can find 6 Double Diamonds, 3 Triple Diamonds, and 4 Ice Veterans.

These box breaks are always filled with different versions and parallels. With 5 cards per pack and 24 packs per box, you are almost pulling one parallel or different version per pack of cards.

Another new card this season is the Championship Rings set, which is obviously going to be a favorite by me. An acetate-rainbow based card, featuring a giant ring on the card with a player from a championship team. Yes, I love acetate cards and Upper Deck really does acetate cards great justice with every acetate set they make and I love it. These can be found 1 every 3 boxes so they are limited.

Finally, you can find the usual Hardware Heroes, Gemography, and Black Diamond jerseys. A new twist with the Black Diamond jerseys is you can put the cards together to complete the background design of the card. I’d imagine if you found a booklet card display, you could put each card on each side and have a nice piece to look at, despite it not being hinged.

2011-12 Upper Deck Black Diamond hockey hits stores in December 2011, right in the thick of hockey season.

In honor of the Heat and the Mavericks making it to the NBA Finals as well as my Connecticut Huskies taking home the Men’s Basketball Championship earlier this year, I bring you Caron Butler.

Now I’m not a chemist, but I’m not entirely sure these are made of acetate. These may be more of a plexiglass then they are a thin acetate material. Either way, I can see through it so I don’t care.

Featured acetate (kinda) card of the day:

2003-04 Upper Deck Glass Autofocus Caron Butler

After I noticed there were autographed cards on the acetate style design, I knew I had to grab some of them for my collection. I had already had a Cam Ward so I decided to try my luck with UCONN basketball players. It was late 2006 when I had just moved into my dorm at Portland State University. I hadn’t brought many of my sports cards with me across the country and I needed something that felt a little more like home. What better then a sports card featuring a Connecticut Huskies player? I scoured eBay and found this in it’s beautiful acetate-sty goodness.

UD Glass was fun when it was out because of these autographs in the set. These are on a very thick acetate/plexiglass surface, almost as thick as some Exquisite cards. These cards will not bend in any way and make an interesting sound when they hit the table. Thought I would have liked to see the autograph more on the clear area as far as design is concerned, this card was very innovative for it’s time and it continued as a staple in the UD Glass series for years to come. Speaking of years to come, I really need to get a Brandon Roy rookie autograph from UD Glass. That would be awesome. If anyone has one let me know!

Caron Butler was originally drafted by the Miami Heat out of the University of Connecticut where he starred for Jim Calhoun’s Huskies. I saw him play in person several times while he was in college as well as on TV, and I don’t think he ever fulfilled his college potential before he left early for the NBA. His first few years with the Heat and the Wizards were okay, but he has finally grown into his own the past few years with the Wizards and now the Mavericks. This season, he was playing extremely well until his unfortunate knee injury derailed him for the season. I could only hope he would return for the NBA Finals, but I don’t think that will be a possibility.

We from Husky Nation salute you Caron Butler and everyone around the world, except for Miami, hopes you can comeback and put baby Bron-Bron in his place by defeating the Heat in the Finals.